Valve-registering device



(No Model.)

0. L.QUIMBY.

, VALVE REGISTERING DEVICE. No. 588,010. Patented Aug. 10,1897.

' 4 WITNESSES: i MW yaw UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. QUIMBY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

VALVE-REGISTERING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 588,010, dated August 10, 1897.

I Application filed September 14, 1896. Serial No. 605,748. (No model.)

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. QUIMBY, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Valve-RegisteringDevice, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to novel means for registering and indicating the opening, as well as closure, of gate or other valves.

In many applications of valves for the control of liquids or gases it is essential that such devices be left in a predetermined position, either open or closed, and danger or loss is frequently incurred when such valves are tampered with.

The object of this invention is to provide a novel, simple, and practical device adapted to be connected with the movable gate or equivalent part of a valve and which will not only indicate the position of the valve-gate, but also register on dials the movements of the valve, so that any change in position of the valve-gate or the like may at a glance be seen by an inspector who keeps a record of the opening and closing of such valves.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts,'as is hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a valve and of the improved register andindicator thereon. Fig. 2 is a side view of the valve in part and a sectional side view of the registering device, taken essentially on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged partly-sectional plan view of the registering mechanism, substantially on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional side view of the registering device, essentially on the line 4. 4 in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of one of the duplicate dials that are portions of the registering mechanism.

The improvement which will presently be described is applicable to valves of various styles that differ in their operative features,

it being only necessary that well-known mechanical devices be employed which are suitable for the connection of the register with the closing-piece of the valve so as to be simultaneously moved therewith.

I In the drawings an ordinary gate-valve operated by a screw-cut stemis shown to illustrate the application and operation of the improvement, and, referring thereto, A indicates the valve-body or shell whereon the usual stuffingbox l: is attached, through which the valve-stem 0 extends into the valve-body to be connected at its inner end with the slidable-gate valve D.

The case 10, that is provided to contain the working parts of the registering device, is

shown as attachable to the valve-body, near the stufiing-box; but it is evident that a main portion of said case may, if preferred, be integrally formed with the valve-body.

In the case 10 which is preferably rectangular and of correct dimensions to receive the working details of the improved register, two spur-gears 11 are loosely held to rotate upon the spindles 12, the spindles being suitably spaced apart and supported in a vertical position by a journaled engagementof their lower ends with the base-wall of the case that is nearest to thevalve-body and also with a partition a, that is supported and held parallel with said base-wall by the posts I) or like means.

Between the spur-gears 11, that are seated on the base-wallet the case, the opposite toothed edges of the rack-bar 13 are'introduced and meshed therewith, said bar being extended through a side of the case 10 and loosely through a supporting-yoke 14:, that projects from the case. The outer end of the rack-bar is secured upon the nut 15, that has.

On each of the spur-gears 11 a springpressed pawl c is pivoted, which pawls mesh with the lower ratchet-wheels 16, and on the partition to spring-pressed pawls d are pivotally secured, which mesh with the upper ratchet-wheels 17. For efficient action the teeth of the wheels 17 should trend in a direction the same as that of the teeth of the ratchet-wheels 16. The similar trend of the teeth of the wheels 16 17 and the relative location of the spring-pressed pawls that engage with them adapt a pawl and wheel on each spindle to act as a detent and prevent a retrograde movement of each spindle when moved by the other wheel and pawl.

- Two graduated dials 18 are affixed one upon the upper end of each spindle 12, and above said dials a face-plate 19 is supported'and held in a plane parallel with the partition to by posts or other means.

-The face-plate 19 is apertured to expose a single graduation and numeral on each dial 18, as shown in Fig. 1, and between said apertures e a slot h is formed in the face-plate and extends longitudinally of the rack-bar 13, from which latter a post projects through said slot, having an index-finger i secured upon its outer end, which finger by its traverse of the slot toward either of the words Open or Shut on the face-plate will indicate the position of the gate-valve D. In the outer side of the case that is protected by a glazing 10 an opening is formed that enables the observer to read the exposed nu merals of the dials 1S and note the position of the index 'i.

In operation it will be seen that a rotation of the valve-stem C will oppositely rotate the spur-gears 11, which by reason of their ratchet connection with the spindles 12 will correspondingly move the dials 18. It is evident that but one dial is revolubly moved at a time, as the pawls c d, by their arrangement and engagement with the pair of ratchetwheels on one of the spindles 12, will permitsaid spindle to remain dormant, while the other pawls o d, that control the movement of the other spindle, are adapted to revolubly move the same and actuate the dial thereon, so that when the gate D is moved to open it partly or completely the exact position of the gate will be registered as well as indicated by the exposed numerals on the dials, and this is the case when the valve-gate is moved to either open or close it.

The teeth of the spur-gears 11 may be equal in number, or one may have 'a less number of teeth than the other, and the graduations on the dials 18 may be different as compared with each other, it being only essential that a sufficient number of registering graduations be produced on each dial to'adapt the device for efficient service.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A valve-registering device having independent indicating devices operated respectively by the opening and closing of the valve, substantially as described.

2. A valve having indicating devices each having movement in a single direction, and

5. A valve-registering device adapted to indicate the position of a slidable-gate valve in its shell, comprising an inclosing case, gearing within the case, connected with and actuated by the stem of the valve, dials on spindles that support said gearing; an apertured face-plate above the dials, exposing but one graduation of each dial at a time, and an index-finger actuated by the device that operates the gearing in unison with the slidable movement of the valve-gate, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a shell or valvebody, a slidable gate within said shell, a threaded stem on the gate, and a hand-wheel or the like on said stem, of a registering device to record the opening and closure of the valve-gate, comprising an inclosing case, rotatable spindles in the case, spur-gears loosely engaging the spindles, ratchet-wheels secured on the spindles and having oppositely-trending teeth, pawls engaging the ratchet-wheels, one of the pawls' of each pair for a spindle serving as a detent to prevent retrograde movement of said spindle, a graduated dial on the outer end of each spindle, an apertured face -plate above the dials, exposing one graduation on each dial through one of said apertures, and means to oppositely rotate the spur-gears from the valve-stem, substantially as described.

CHARLES L. QUIMBY.

Witnesses:

FERD. S. Bonn, W. W. CANBY. 

